Indestructible
by EverlastingImpression
Summary: Raven joins FT with Avi, and soon human remains are being left on the guild doorstep as a threat. Can Raven and FT find the killer before it's too late to save the children of the guild from this grisly fate? T for now for violence, torture, and death.
1. Dreamless Twilight

A/N: Yes, this is an OC fan fiction. Honestly, I'm not sure what to rate it, as there is going to be gruesome deaths of children, but other than gore there will not be any other mature themes in it. I'm guessing that this is going to be a longer story of multiple parts. It starts out a little after the Edolas Arc, before Tenrou Island. There is going to be a little OOC, simply because people are scared that little kids are being killed. This first chapter, there isn't much to it. Just Raven coming to Fairy Tail. I feel that it is essential to show the bond that Raven and Avi share before much else happens. I'm going to try uploading the first three chapters at once, though.

Raven's Guild Card:

Name: Raven Blank

Age: 14

Magic: Unknown, but related to blood

Likes: Avi

Hates: Stereotyping

Avi's Guild Card:

Name: Avi Blank

Age: 7

Mage: Avian Take Over and Requip

Likes: Raven

Hates: Vegetables

So, here we go! Read and review… or else.

I gave a slight sigh, watching the white dove soar across the clear blue sky. Allowing myself a small smile, I set my scythe to the side and pulled out my knife, giving my arm a small cut. Murmuring, "Blood: Avian of Calamity", I stretched out my newly formed black wings and took to the sky after the angelic white bird. She turned to face me, jovial innocence flashing in her beautiful cyan blue eyes, and I brushed my own wing against hers. How odd we must have seemed to onlookers; in fact, I noticed several people already gathered below. There we were; an oversized dove and a raven, flying in tandem across the crystal clear blue sky. I'd always enjoyed flying; despite the fact that it used up a lot of my already partially diminished magical power. Yet, it was for Avi. She could fly all she wanted, take the form of whatever bird she had a preference for. That was her own ability; to turn into birds at will. I couldn't keep up with the transformation for long, but I would do it for the sake of her happiness.

I remembered the day we met as clear as the sky we were flying across. It was a dark time, a dark time indeed. I was roaming the country all alone, attempting to increase my magic power. See, my powers useless without blood... literally. So there I would stand in my black cloak, stalking mage funerals in order to extract blood before it became useless. I didn't want to be seen (how the heck would you explain that to someone?) but naturally people noticed me overtime. I was an outcast, thought to be the true Grim Reaper in my appearance and behavior, and was referred to simply as "The Raven." They thought I was the source their afflictions, the sign of death. Thus, I couldn't walk into a town without whispers and screams, people believing that I was there to take their lives. After my sword broke in a fight with robbers, I'd begun to use a scythe only for the irony of the situation. Nevertheless, I fought much better with it than a sword. Who would have known, right?

I could feel my own magic power flowing away like a breaking of the Hoover Dam. I landed neatly before returning to my normal form, brushing a black feather from my cloak. Avi resumed her human form in her descent, and landed gracefully on two, rain boot covered human legs.

"Ray-Ray, Ray-Ray!" I smiled at Avi's voice, and rested my hand on her blond hair, golden hair, like an angel's halo in the sunlight.

"Did you have fun?" I asked her, pulling the hood over my head to hide my face from the bystanders. If they recognized me, well, there would be a public outcry similar to a riot in New York City. Avi didn't exactly need to experience that in her lifetime, especially since I had and was now psychologically traumatized scarred for life. I still had nightmares from that. It was kind of odd how I'm probably the only person on Earth who can say that their past is also the future.

I was just about to head over towards my weapon several feet away, when I heard the scream, unmistakably Avi's. I whisked around, sure she was beside me a moment earlier, and saw her morph into a falcon and take to the skies while a few men in cloaks similar to my own tried to grab her.

"Av-" I began, before I was cut off by a sharp pain in my lower torso. Just below the location of my last prime rib was a deep sword cut, blood pouring out and intestines beginning to follow. I gasped, holding my hands over the gaping wound, watching the ever-so-precious blood spill out to the ground. I didn't have enough blood for it to be wasted like that, and even if I was fully healthy I could still bleed to death.

My eyes raked in the man before me. A mask covered his face, and I noticed in horror it was made of the real face of a fox, eye holes cut out of the poor, beautiful creature and instead I was facing the deep brown and evil orbs of this man.

"How could you do such a despicable thing to a beautiful creature?" I whispered, then noticing a trail of blood dripping from my mouth. I wiped it quickly, and he laughed, an awful sound causing me to grimace.

"See, we hear you're somethin' of a pow'ful mage, swee'um. Just try'na recruit ya to Dream'ess Twi'ght," he grunted with a maniacal grin.

"And the girl?" I wheezed, more blood bubbling at my mouth, and his smirk broadened.

"Ah, yes, her. Let's'ee... lil' bird girl fead'ers would make a nice add'ton to me mask, don't'cha think?"

"You awful man!" I exclaimed, stepping back, watching him beginning to close the gap between us. All he had to do was step into my blood that had spilled to the ground, and it was game over for him. I had a last hope that he would follow my voice and I'd have the opportunity to rid of him in order to get Avi out of here.

"See, I know lot more 'bout'cha tha'na think, an' tha' trick won't work aga'st me," his smirk still in place as he stepped carefully around my blood. I gave a small hiss of defeat, and he continued, "See? Ya live if ya come wit' me."

"Not a chance," I whispered, feeling my strength drain from my body. I held my hands up, ready to resort to my final power, completely unrelated to my other, main ability. In my dying moments, I was prepared to reduce the amount of oxygen atoms around him to one, and allow him to suffocate. Sighing, I began the quick, careful movements of my fingers.

Suddenly, the man fell to the ground with a look of surprise, and I stared curiously before noticing the arrow lodged into his flesh, right through the brain stem. I glanced up, and saw her little form perched high in a tree, another arrow ready and aimed at one of the Dreamless Twilight members before her. I could easily identify the courage that was trying to overcome her fear, like a trapped bird in a cage. Her hands shook, but her eyes narrowed in concentration.

Avi didn't see the man with the spear sneak up from behind her.

I did, however, and gasped. I'd seen that man before; the one true bane I'd ever encountered. He lowered the spear, smiling jubilantly, and threw it at her.

"No!" I screamed, but it was too late. The spear sailed through her little body, straight through her little torso. The spearhead broke through the flesh in the front, too; completely covered in her crimson blood. She fell out of the tree and to the ground with a dull thud.

"You little-" I began, a wave of anger roaring through me, comparable to a large tidal wave. My fingers were already moving in that complicated motion, my eyes narrowed. I must have looked downright horrifying to any bystanders. Soon, I had the ground falling beneath the feet of the enemy, and the man with the spear suffocating in poisonous gas while he let out an agonized wail. Satisfied my job had been done, I stumbled over to Avi's convulsing, blood covered body.

"No," I whispered, unable to stop the tears as my hands felt the wound. The spear had gone right through the flesh below her stomach, which happened to be the location of a human pancreas. "No, Avi! No!"

"R... Ray-Ray..." She mumbled in response. "Ray... Ray..."

"You're not going to die!" I screamed, vainly holding my hands around the spearhead as if that would stop the bleeding. "I won't let you!"

Avi glanced up at my face, and after seeing the agony in her eyes I began to sob. Horrible, breathtaking sobs like I had never before. I could feel my own body deteriorating at my own wound that I'd nearly forgotten about, and knew that I wasn't much better off. Dying here with Avi would be nice, I decided. I wanted to die with the one person I loved.

"Ray-Ray..." Avi wheezed again, and her own little shaky hands reached up to my wound. It was too much; too, too much. I lost the rest of my strength, and fell over on top of her own body. Out of my peripheral vision, I could see one of the Dreamless Twilight cronies pulling himself out of the hold, waving his sword angrily. Gosh, would he ever just snuff it already? He was then stopped, to my surprise, by a bright flash of green light.

"We need to take these two back to be healed," I heard then. "Major weight on my already damaged conscience if we don't."

"But my babies haven't had enough to do yet!"

I wanted to sit up, acknowledge their presence with a gold medal for their good citizenship. Maybe, just maybe, they could save Avi. And that would always be enough for me.


	2. Fairy Tail

A/N: Ah, yes, the next chapter! I hope you enjoy. It's pretty much just the joining of the guild and fun stuff like that. I would really like some criticism on it so far, or praise, too, if you think it's any good. I just want to know your opinions. =)

I woke up to the prodding of my arm that vaguely reminded me of the time that I'd been assaulted by a group of preschoolers who my mom had expected me to babysit. That was a terrifying experience.

I blinked my eyes open, and I couldn't help but smile. "A-Avi? Is that you?"

"Yes, Mommy! Yes!" She said in return with a happy smile. I groaned.

"Avi, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me Mommy? Sister, or preferably Raven, is much more appropriate..."

She laughed, and gave me a devilish grin. I had a moment to fear what this child that I had had the responsibility of raising this past year had become. Surely the age 'seven' wasn't the time you separated the sociopaths from the normal sweethearts? Right?

"Your daughter is back to normal. She tells me that she goes by the name Avi, and that you go by Raven?"

I groaned again, and glanced up at the girl above me. She was probably around 17 or so, with a tight fitting tank top, very short skirt, and stylish boots. Her smile was intact, though, and I had a feeling that despite her high maintenance appearance, her friendliness was genuine.

"Yeah, I'm Raven," I replied slowly. "I don't have a clue what her real name is, nor does she, but I address her as either Avian or usually Avi for short. Also, she's not my daughter."

The blond tilted her head to the side, and continued, "Oh? Why do you call her Avian?"

"Because of this," I replied in a mutter, before raising my voice to call Avi back over. "Oi! Avi! Come on over here and put on a good show."

Avi walked away from the bar, and I noticed the look of disappointment on her face. It took me a few more seconds to register that wait, that was a _bar_? However, before I could say anything, she morphed into a dove and flew onto my shoulder.

"Oh, wow! That's really pretty!" The girl exclaimed.

"Is that all she can do?" Another voice commented. I whisked around quickly, but there was no scorn the face of the scarlet haired woman who had just came over. Just curiosity.

"No! Watch this!'' Avi continued happily, before morphing into an eagle, a hummingbird, an ostrich, before finally coming to a stop at her human form. She was panting heavily as if she'd just ran a 5k, and when she caught her breath said, "Tadaa!"

"She uses some form of Take-Over magic with Requip qualities," I said quickly, hoping they wouldn't ask any more questions. The poor girl had just been speared like a human shish kabob for goodness sake.

"And you?" The redhead continued, and instead of seeming content with my answer I sensed that I'd just caused more interest. "Are you a mage, too?"

"Yes," I replied hastily, hoping they picked up my note of finality. There was no way I was going to reveal my own magic with these people. Yeah, they'd just saved my life and all... but still. Not even Avi knew how my power worked, and it was going to stay that way.

Unfortunately for me, my remoteness just raised more questions. The blonde began, "What kinds of magic do you-"

"Look, I don't reveal information like that, alright?" I snapped. She gave me a look of mortified surprise, as if I'd just told her that she'd taste good or something, and I continued quickly, "I mean... that's just one thing I like to keep to myself. I almost lost half of my intestines earlier; I don't feel like answering any questions."

The scarlet haired girl nodded, and murmured a few inaudible words to the blond. I was vaguely reminded of the gossiping at the junior high that I'd attended at one point of my bleak life, when she turned around with a completely serious face and sinisterly narrowed eyes. I held my hand across where I'd been slashed, wondering if I'd be watching my intestines spill out again.

"Raven, plea-" The blond haired girl began, but was cut off by Avi, who had accidentally pushed her to the side when trying to hang off of my arm.

"Ray-Ray, Ray-Ray! Can we join? Can we join Hairy Tail?"

"That's Fairy Tail," a man with a pipe muttered. "Honestly, the young people of these days just don-"

"We're baaack!" The man's last few words were drowned out as the front doors of the bar were thrown open with a loud cracking sound. I turned around swiftly, watching as the clearing just revealed an over-exposing-of-the-top... man? Teenager? I didn't have time to ask when the blondie beside me muttered, "Ah, and there's Natsu."

And that's when all pandemonium ensued. I'd never been to an all-out bar fight, but this was certainly a scene I realized right then and there that I didn't want Avi exposed to. Or myself, for that matter.

"You there! Slanty eyed pyro! We still got a score to settle!" My eyes widened in horror as Avi giggled and pointed to this man who was wearing, to my absolute mortification, just his underpants.

"Avi, don't you dare lo-"

I fell roughly to the side as another man, huge and muscular, pushed- or rather threw- me to the side as he shouted, "Real men-"

I wasn't sure what exactly happened next, or what about Real Men that was so important, partially because I'd slammed my head against a table and blood was running down my face, and also because a white haired woman helped me to my feet and handed me a white rag to clean my face off with.

"I'm Mirajane... you're the girl the Raijin Tribe brought back, aren't you?" She asked while I cleaned the blood from my face.

"Raijin Tribe?" I asked curiously. "What's that?"

"They-" Mira began, but suddenly turned around and swiped a half full mug away from a small, familiar hand. "You're a little under-aged for beer, sweetie."

"Wait, what?" I grunted, getting up to one knee. My eyes widened as I noticed Avi reaching for the mug, beginning to cry. "Avi! Don't touch that!"

"People here sometimes have a tendency to become over enthusiastic," Mirajane commented casually as she set the beer on top of a cabinet out of Avi's reach.

"Overenthusiastic? _Overenthusiastic_?" I was absolutely flabbergasted. "I want to know who the heck gave Avi that!"

"Oh, who knows," she replied with a cheerful smile. "But all is good now."

"Rah-Rah! Rah-Rah!" Avi stuttered out happily, stumbling towards me. She was already drunk, I realized with an irked groan. "Can we... can we join Hairy Tail?"

"That," I said slowly, "Is out of all considera-" I began, but watched as the 'Real Man' lunatic was thrown across the room, crashing into Avi. She was knocked to the side, with a little "Ooh..."

"Enough!" I shouted, but that didn't have any effect. Grumbling to myself, I threw the bloodied rag to the side, allowing the thick liquid to flow freely. Once enough had collected in my hand, I threw it onto the pinkie that had thrown Sir. Real Man at Avi and muttered, "Blood: Ring of Demise... noose."

Instantly, the blood expanded and formed a circle around his neck. The people of the bar watched, mystified, as it began to levitate the coughing and sputtering pyromaniac. Natsu's ablaze hands whipped around like a windmill. It would have been quite comical, if there wasn't a chance of it killing him. That wasn't what I had in mind.

The blond turned to me in horror, and said, her voice dangerously calm, "Set him down, Raven. Please."

I nodded, and broke the connection. He landed back on his feet, coughing. He must have recovered pretty quickly, because soon he was waving his fist at me and screaming, "Let's have a match! You and me! One on one!"

I sighed, shaking my head. I didn't exactly like the idea of those anywhere near my poor, already neglected enough body, whether ablaze or not, and I honestly didn't feel the need to fight. In fact, I shouldn't have done what I just had; revealing my magic like that was, at best, completely reckless. At worst, fatal for Avi.

I turned away, and brushed my hand across one of Avi's braids. She was jumping up and down in excitement (though quite clumsily due to the alcohol), and I smiled slightly at her happiness. That's what I loved about her; you could stick her in a flaming building, you could spear her through the pancreas, you could throw her like a rag doll and she still retained her jovial innocence. That was the great thing about little kids.

"Can I join Fairy Tail? Please... Raven?" Avi begged, her eyes alight with seriousness.

I glanced at her in surprise. Avi never called me by what she believed was my full name because she thought that the blasphemed "R" word brought me emotional pain. It didn't, of course; I frankly didn't care if people thought I was an old geezer with scruffy eyebrows and pink nose hair (no pun meant on Natsu, of course). Even if I was having her believe a lie, I couldn't burst that bubble of hers.

Before I could reply, the voice of another person made me jump. "You little brats... well, same old from the Council, as you could expect. Rah, rah, rah and all that... ah. Are these new comers?"

"They came to join, Master," Mirajane replied to the old, goofy looking man on the floor. I couldn't help but think of a circus joker who had been shrunk greatly. Kind of an oxymoron, but it still didn't face the fact he didn't look all that incredible.

"Yo," I mumbled with a little wave, hoping he wouldn't ask any questions, especially about the almost strangling of one of his 'brats'. Granted, that seemed not to work too much lately, either.

"Oh, fun," he replied with a little yawn. I was completely taken aback; this was the first person who was courteous enough to approach me who hadn't asked about my magical abilities or challenged me to a one on one fight.

"Er-" I began, but was cut off by a tugging of my sleeve. "_What_, Avi?"

"Lookie!" She squealed in happiness, showing off a golden marking on her chest, right on top of her heart. "I got a guild stamp thingy!"

I rolled my eyes, and sighed. "Avi, I never agreed to that!" But soon, Mirajane had taken my hand and led me over to the counter

"Do you want to join, too?" She asked with a cheerful smile.

"Since Avi did, I have to," I replied simply, allowing her to place a... would it be called a 'stamper'? on my neck, right below my turtle necklace, which was probably the only space of flesh exposed to the elements. It was pure black... great, another thing to add to the apparel and stereotypes. Yet, it had an almost iridescent quality to it, a beautiful myriad of colorful shimmers when exposed to light. It was, in its own way, beautiful. At least, in my opinion. And suddenly, I felt a little flicker of hope. Not just for Avi's future, but maybe for my own, too.


	3. Do thou fret?

A/N: So, here's where the fun starts! Remember, I want criticism on it, praise, or any suggestions. Thanks for reading!

I stared at the ugly scar across my lower torso in the mirror. My life was saved, thanks to some girl I hadn't yet met named Wendy, but my poor beauty hadn't been. Ah, well. That hadn't mattered much of late.

I threw on a night gown with a purple stars and moon pattern, and stepped out of the bathroom. Despite the events of the past few days, nothing could prepare me for what I saw in the main 'room' part of my hotel room. There, sitting on my (get that, my) bed, were three completely unwelcome not-so-strangers. Miss. Redhead, Pink Pyro, and the stripper. The latter happened to, thank goodness, be wearing a full set of clothes.

"What is it?" I asked with a small sigh, and it was then that I noticed the broken window. "And you do know, I hope, that there are doors for a reason? And that the manager isn't going to appreciate that much?"

The redhead, completely ignoring my lecture, held out her hand for me. "Sorry, I didn't have a chance to introduce myself. My name's Erza, Erza Scarlet. Would you, by any chance, have any strawberry cake with you?"

"Er... no," I mumbled, and she continued. "The stupid looking one is Natsu, and the stripping pervert is Gray."

I was horrified to watch that as Erza spoke, the black haired mage began removing his shirt. "Oi, not in my hotel room! What if Avi comes home?"

"I am home," came a quizzical voice behind me. I watched as Avi stepped out of the closet, shaking slightly. "I heard glass break, and I was scared it was robbers, so I hid. And why are you taking off your clothes? It's kind of cold..."

I nearly had a heart attack right then and there. When I was finally able to find words, I rasped, "Avi, go, uh, get ice or something. You three, I have to talk to you."

Avi nodded, and while ho- humming along happily she skipped out into the hallway. I turned my attention to them, and flopped down onto the bed as well. "Honestly, I don't care what you do in my hotel room so long as Avi doesn't see it. You can have a party, have a sing-along, I don't care. But if Avi gets hurt, cries, or loses her mental innocence I will not be pleased. Got that?"

"Aye!" Natsu replied cheerfully. He certainly was clueless.

"Why did you ask her to get ice?" Gray asked curiously. "I mean, I-"

"I'm sure she did it to get Avi out of her," Erza interrupted him quickly as he clenched his fist. "But, Raven? Next time you need ice, Gray is your man."

"Um," I was ready to say that I never really had much interest in ice, when Gray held out his hand, palm open, and I noticed a piece of ice shaped in the symbol of Fairy Tail. It was then that I understood. "Oh, I see now. You can, like, shape ice?"

"You could say that!" Natsu chirped happily. "And I-"

"I already know," I interrupted hastily. It might have been a bit curt, but with the curtains and various other tapestries that I wasn't sure was fireproof... well, let's just say that I wasn't taking any risks.

"We just wanted to give you a little friendly visit," Gray said, seeming a little miffed at my earlier choice of words. "It was Natsu's idea."

"Screw you, droopy eyes! It was yours!"

"Wanna go, pyro?"

"Yea!"

"Shut up, you two!" Erza snapped suddenly. I sighed in relief, jumping slightly, and she continued, "I'm sure Raven wouldn't appreciate that."

"Where's the blonde girl?" I asked watching as the two gave each other nasty glares without Erza noticing. "I mean, she-"

"Oh, yeah, Lucy," Natsu blurted out then. "She doesn't like it when people break into others' houses, so I thought she wouldn't want to come."

"Good heavens," I muttered, feeling a piece of me die at those words. Without the little bit of sanity that Lucy provided, I had a feeling that soon I'd owe the hotel manager big bucks. And then it occured to me. "Oh, shoot! The window! I paid all of my money on the hotel fee and breakfast..."

"No problem," Erza replied in an almost singsong voice, and suddenly she grabbed my wrist. "Let's get a job!"

"I... don't..." I muttered, but there was no opportunity for objection. Soon, a winded Raven and her still energized not-yet-I'm-not-sure-if-I-want friends arrived at the guild, Avi flying above them in a graceful eagle form.

When we opened the heavy wooden doors, I was automatically greeted by the air of silence... and fear. Something was wrong. Something really, really bad had to of happened to cause this change of atmosphere. Or maybe it was just the lack of some of its feistiest members.

Without even giving me a second glance, Erza walked up to Makarov, exchanging a few inaudible words. I wrapped an arm around a now human Avi, who had begun to shake. It was then that I noticed the... looks everyone was giving me. It was of various extremes of temperature, from icy judgment to fiery hate. I began to cower when the murmuring began, some members deliberately looking away from me while others glared right into the dark depths of my eyes. I began to twitch nervously.

Eventually, Makarov turned to face us, his expression lacking the usual jolliness. He was holding a couple of plates a considerable distance away from his body, and I had a feeling there was something disgusting in them. He coughed a few times, before leaving the plates and walking away.

'What a useless master,' I thought to myself. Evidently, other people were beginning to have those thoughts, too.

It was the man who was talking to Sir. Kids-these-days who spoke. "Romeo went missing last night. A few hours after he went missing we found... this."

There was respectful silence.

"This," he repeated, indicating the plates. "Not for the weak s-stomach."

It was then that I saw them, and literally vomited in my mouth. It was terrible. So, so terrible. Suddenly, Avi began hyperventilating. I pulled her closer to me, and steeling my nerves whispered, "Avi, maybe you should go home..."

"Are you crazy?" Lucy exclaimed. "We don't know if Romeo's killer is standing outside the door."

That sent Avi over the edge. She began bawling. If she didn't know what was going on before, she'd know now.

"Cheer up!" Natsu said suddenly. "That isn't Romeo."

"R-really? Good," our speaker said with a relieved sigh. "Good."

A man I couldn't identify spoke next. He wasn't so convinced. "Those are a little kid's organs! Romeo disappeared a few hours before they appeared on our guild doorstep!"

"Can't you tell? It doesn't carry his scent." Flames began to appear around Natsu's hands as he spoke.

"But they were someone," I murmured thoughtfully. "Maybe it was a threat from the killer that he was going to target us next."

"And the killer speaks!" A voice muttered, and there was a rustle of agreement. I whipped around, mortified, trying to find out whom. At that point, I was angry. Very, very angry.

"There's no proof to that," Mirajane said then. "We have no proof that it was her."

"Why would I hurt a little kid?" I whispered. Then, I tensed, raising my voice. "What? You think that just because I'm 'The Raven' I would kill someone? Well, here's something for you to chew on. I'm a normal 14 year old girl in the wrong place in time that just wants to keep Avi alive! And tell me, how would killing a little kid and leaving its guts on your doorstep help her?"

Silence.

"You have nothing to counter that, huh?" At that point, I lost all control. I stepped forward, and shouted, "Just because I'm seen as a symbol of death doesn't mean I'm a killer."

See above.

I whisked around, my cloak hitting Avi roughly. I was too irritated to tell her sorry as I threw the door open roughly, but skidded to a surprised stop when I noticed an envelope on the ground.

Erza, who happened to of followed me, picked it up suspiciously, and opened the golden seal. Inside was a bloodstained letter. I leaned over her shoulder to read it. It was written in blood, and thus was fairly hard to make out the letters. When I finally did, it read:

Do thou whispers turn to silence or screams?

Do thou cry out, "What does thy mean"?

Something of thy care has been taken,

As to what, thou is not likely to be mistaken.

To say, "Do not fret" would be a cryptic lie,

What would thou give in an expense to buy?

On this note, thy blood will flow,

As when given the final blow.

Erza then read it aloud, her expression growing grimmer as it went on.

"I think this is from whoever killed that child," someone commented from the crowd.

"That or someone offering help," Erza replied. Master walked over, and held out his hand for the note- and I mean literally, extended it in her direction. She handed it over willingly.

"There's a guild mark on the seal," he murmured quietly. "But I don't recognize it.

I did, but now, with the whole guild crowding around me I wasn't going to voice it. Because I'd encountered them before, and quite recently. Images of Avi speared flooded through my mind, my blood spilling to the ground, the man with the fox mask.

Dreamless Twilight, the guild that had tried to recruit me... or so they said. I shuddered as I imagined what would have happened to Avi. Would her intestines been left on our guild's step to be seen instead of that other kids' if we hadn't been saved? The idea was so repulsive I pushed it out of my head almost as soon as it came. I needed to concentrate on the note's meaning. It was a very ill written poem, but it got the point across that they weren't afraid to pick us off one by one and use it to psychologically traumatize their vict-, ah, the guild. And I had a horrible, sinking feeling that it was because of me.

"It's a ransom, isn't it?" Lucy said finally. I resisted the urge to say, 'well duh'.

"Maybe their way offering help?" Suggested someone I didn't recognize with the same suggestion. I thought about that for a moment. I guess there was a chance, but I never really thought of Dreamless Twilight to be the type of guild that takes euphoria out of helping others. Just sayin'. But hey, maybe I'm just stereotyping. I'd had a lot of that recently.

I glanced at the message again. It began to make sense to me. Obviously, it was a ransom. Check. It was threatening more to come. Check. They were either offering to be friends or stating their foe-ship. Uncheck.

"Hey, Erza...?" I asked tentatively. "Can I talk to you, alone?"

"Um," she glanced up at me and blinked. I sighed in relief that she at least seemed willing to trust me. "I'm fine with that. C'mon."

We walked out to under the shade of a tree, and she motioned with a hand to continue. "I know those guys," I said finally. She raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "They're the ones who attacked Avi and me before your comrades saved us."

"Thank you for telling me this," she replied quietly. "Might you, by any chance-"

"I don't know anything else about them, but what I do know is that they are absolutely despicable creatures," I murmured, shaking slightly. I probably looked absolutely terrible with the nervous sweat running down my face; thank heavens there wasn't a mirror or any cute guys around. Not that I was thinking about that, of course. "Don't be tempted to try making a deal with them. I don't think they'll play fair."

"I see," she replied quietly. "Raven, do you think there's any chance of saving Romeo?"

"I..." I whispered softly, staring out at the darkening night. "I'm going to save him. For the guild, right? Or at least to clear my name."

"You aren't going alone, are you? That would be absolutely imbecilic! The enemy you face has already almost killed you once."

"I... I would have fought seriously if I wasn't trying to protect Avi," I replied, my voice still barely audible as I uttered the lie. I guess I had a newfound talent; lying. My mother would be so proud. "I'm going to leave Avi behind. Hopefully there's enough love here at the guild for her to survive."

"You're a klutzy liar, just like-" her voice cut off in a sharp gasp, and she turned away quickly. "I mean, I'm not an idiot. I know what you're planning to do."

"Are you going to stop me?" I asked with a little smirk, brushing some hair out of my eyes. "I'd like to see you or anyone try."

"Raven-" she began, but I pushed past her and hurried back to the guild, where I joined Lucy in silence.


End file.
